This originally appeared as my "PR Tips and Techniques" column in
the Computer Media Directory, March 1994. CMD was a quarterly
looseleaf of editorial contacts and other info.

"COPYLEFT/COPY'MIDDLE'":

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Because I wear hats as both independent PR writer and free-lance
journalist (switching hats so often accounts for the bald spot), I
often experience the other side of things -- how the press views PR,
and how PR views the press.

It's instructive, to say the least. Having been recently attended
two major trade shows in the past month where I preregistered as
press, I thought I'd relate a few typical practices that you DON'T
want your PR group or agency to do -- and some suggested solutions:

1) Unqualified faxing.

The phone rings, and, without preamble, a voice asks, without
preamble or identifying information:

"What's your fax number?"

2) The eager appointment-maker.

"Hi, this is Amelia Erhart and we're calling to see if you'd like to
make an appointment to come by our booth during Penguin Expo to chat
with our senior executives."

On the surface, these both indicate PR groups that probably haven't
done their homework. The sub-text, quite frankly, is that someone in
PR doesn't know what they're doing, at a much more basic level.

Call #1 represents a penny-foolish investment in negative press
relations. Usually, these calls are being made by some innocent
junior or temp worker, who was handed a press list and told to
make calls. As a rule (I ask), these people have no idea what's
going on, or what the goal is, other than to send faxes.

"Hi, I'm calling from _________ to see if we should send you
information about our Video Toaster MIB that we'll be
(ANNOUNCING, DEMOING, ETC.) at the upcoming Penguin Expo in
River City, Iowa."

"Would you like us to fax, mail, courier or e-mail the
information to you?" (and then confirm the proper address, etc.).

"Is there someone else in your organization we should contact
(also, instead), and is there anything else we can do."

Most of the press understands that PR people are simply doing a job,
and will respond reasonably to a polite, by the rules query.

As for Call #2, for pity's sake, pre-qualify before wasting
everybody's time:

"Will you be attending Penguin Expo '92 in River City next
week?" (A lot of press get pre-registered who won't be
attending.)

"We're introducing our new LAN Toaster MIB -- is this an area
you're currently covering?" (Establish what you do, and
whether this is part of the reporter's beat.)

"We're trying to line up our schedule for press appointments
-- are you interested in setting one up at this time?" (Some
press don't precommit.)

3) Over-hype. "We're announcement something really
revolutionary -- you need to come see it and write it up for your magazine."

I got one phone call last week like this -- and actually saw a PR guy
buttonhole an editor outside the press room with this pitch. Really.

I don't know what the phone call was about, other than some new
approach to vendor-distributor relationships. The other one I saw
was for a company selling physical cable interconnects. Do they know
what their PR agency is doing in their name?

Presumptuous claims like this are an open invitation for the press to
declare open season and itemize all the ways in which your
announcement isn't all you claim it to be -- and perhaps drag a few
other unwelcome facts in while they're on the subject.

As one editor commented, "Don't declare revolution unless you're
prepared to be guillotined."

*

Let's move away from show-specifics to a few more PR gaffes that are
easier to avoid than fix after the fact:

4) Unapproved Users.

Don't give out a user name unless you've cleared this both with the
user AND their organization's PR or Public Affairs office.

If the user balks -- legitimately -- then you've wasted a
journalist's time. This can lose you your place in line, and also
cost you future credibility and opportunities. The press keeps track
of who doesn't deliver.

If the user does talk without sanction from their PR chain of
command, you've potentially damaged their career. Many companies
look unkindly on employees who talk to the press without clearance --
even if they haven't said anything inappropriate per se.

Nor is it the press' job to confirm with a user whether they've been
given permission to speak. I tend to, because I don't feel it's fair
for someone else's oversight to wreak damage on an innocent party's
career.

More directly important to your own career, users speaking out of
turn can damage important vendor/customer relationships -- a high
price to pay for a bit of press coverage.

Recommendations:

Always get explicit clearance from the customer's Public
Affairs department.

Send a confirming letter to the named user and Public Affairs
for CYA.

Do basic media training before allowing a user (or anyone, for
that matter) to speak with the press (e.g., what can and can't
be said, defining "off the record," don't say anything you
aren't willing to see in print, how and when to say "I'll have
to get back to you on that," etc.)

Keep your press list current and lean. It wastes paper and gives the
impression that you don't know what you're doing.

Example: I'm still getting mail addressed to me as the editor of the
LAN supplement for MIS Week -- and MIS Week hasn't been with us since
the summer of 1990. [Additional note, July 1997 -- I'm still also
getting stuff in my capacity of
NetGuide columnist, which I
haven't been for a year or two, and also on behalf of one of the
British Internet magazines, which I similarly haven't written for
in over two years.]

I also get a lot of press releases I have no need or interest in.
I'm not sure how to turn them off.

I'm on some lists multiple times. I got seven copies of one mailing.
Sometimes I return the extras with a form letter asking to be
unduplicated.

Recommendations:

Review your list at least every quarter. Certainly do a basic
review before doing a trade-show oriented call and mailing.
participation.

Stay current with who's where. Scan the mastheads periodically;
subscribe to something like the Computer Media Directory (sic).
[Note, 1997: Of course, even these lists often get severely
out of date.]

Consider doing a list confirmation mailing every six or twelve
months, at minimum with a return postcard check-off "YES/NO Keep
me on your press list." You'll save money and make friends.

To close out, here's a few more press release tips:

Lighten up on the envelopes and stuffing. I don't need bulky
envelopes AND cardboard for an announcement of your third
quarter financials. Let's save more of them trees.